That first time around the convention hall it wasn't even known
that the dry process, being developed by Applied Science Fiction,
Austin, TX, would destroy the negative as a function of the
process. In other words, the customer would never see their negs
again, only a CD-ROM with the digital files for the images. That
really sent them rolling in the aisles.
The winds of doubt expressed by the industry movers could have well
been enough to discourage even the most positive of us. It didn't
shake the ASF folks. They staffed up with a cadre of top
individuals from the photo and high tech arenas, put their heads
down and bulled ahead.
Recently, ASF invited a group of trade press and certain others to
Austin headquarters for an update of where they are and where
they're going. Dan Sullivan, president and CEO, and Michael Conley,
VP Marketing, spearheaded the activities. While my interest was
especially in the area of the dry process, now being called Digital
PIC (for Process & Image Capture), there was some other neat
stuff going on.
To give us the opportunity to sit down at a work station and see
for ourselves what might be done with the latest ASF software, we
were encouraged to bring some old prints with us. One setup was
equipped with ASF's latest ICE, ROC and GEM technology, currently
being used by a variety of manufacturers of film and flat bed
scanners to improve old, scratched, damaged and faded photos.
One of our number took out a very old photo that not only had
cracks throughout the emulsion but actually had areas where the
emulsion had chipped away. You've seen these. In the course of a
few minutes of scanning on an enhanced Epson scanner and delivering
instructions to the computer by one of us, a non-techie, a dye-sub
print was delivered that had been remarkably cleaned up. Even the
chipped areas. It's the kind of work customers ask for all the time
but few minilabs can fulfill unless they work with a professional
outlab or have high-tech people on staff with Photoshop or such.
Customers have to wait days or weeks and spend a lot to restore
their old treasures. And they do.

Teaching an Old Dog...
The restoration business is an opportunity area for the minilab but
one which only a few can handle on site. Especially important is
that customers have mixed feelings about leaving precious old
photos to be sent out for restoration work elsewhere.
ASF has no plans to package the equipment for the restoration setup
that I saw as their purpose was to only demo the software. Their
interest is selling the software to others. There is certainly a
need for a simple restoration product of this type in a minilab
environment. Priced right, it could be a money-making service for
the lab without the need for high-tech operators.
By the way, Dana Seccombe, ASF's exec VP of R&D, separately
showed us some new technology that is still in development and
being referred to only by a secret code name. We saw samples of
heavily backlit beach photos that had the subject almost blacked
out and the beach washed out. After scanning with the new software
not only were the subjects clearly shown but so were details of the
beach scene. Coming soon.

How Dry Are They?
So much for the scanning software. What's happening with dry film
processing?
For one thing, it appears as though the competition to be the first
on the market with dry process technology may have just
disappeared. At the last PMA convention, Digital Now, Herndon, VA.,
introduced its dry technology, a year after ASF. Notable was the
fact that, unlike the ASF process which destroys the negative, the
Digital Now system would preserve the negative for eventual
delivery back to the customer. A more palatable market approach, it
seemed.
However, the fortunes of Digital Now have taken a turn for the
worse. Deep personnel cuts, that included even the company's
founder, were made. In August it was announced that the firm was up
for sale and trading on the Australian stock exchange has been
halted. According to Mike Dimeglio, VP Sales, (who has since left
the firm), "the board believes that it is best to sell the company
in order to protect the shareholders' investment." The official
press release stated that "the Board now believes that the
projected revenues ($12 million) will not be achieved..."
In early October, Digital Now filed for Chapter 11
bankruptcy.
Digital Now has made its mark primarily in its scanning technology.
To the minilab industry it is best known for the Digital Photo
Factory, a tabletop system for the production of CD-ROMs, Internet
uploads and other such functions — a product competitive with
Kodak's PictureVision. Gary Mueller, Digital Now president and CEO,
said there are about 1,000 DPFs in use.
What about the future of Digital's dry film technology? Mike had
indicated that it was "on the back burner." Gary said, "There's
still a flame, but it's lower. It has not been abandoned."
He indicated that R&D on all products has been decreased in
light of the fiscal problems. The technology for dry processing is
for sale, either with the company or separately, according to
Gary.
For all practical purposes it would appear that dry film processing
is now a one company race with ASF and its Digital PIC system the
only entry at the starting gate.